SDARM icons are not decorative. They are functional. Every icon exists to communicate a function, a location or an action — with immediate clarity, needing no further explanation.
Immediate clarity
An icon must be recognized in 0.3 seconds — the average time the eye gives an element before deciding whether it matters.
Visual consistency
All the icons share the same stroke weight, the same corners and the same logic of construction. A coherent set looks like a family.
Cultural neutrality
Across 140 countries an icon cannot depend on local cultural references. The system uses universal metaphors — form, direction, containment, opening.
The system adopts the stroke-only (outline) style with rounded corners — no fills, no gradients, no shadows. That is what makes it work at any scale, on any background color and on any medium.
The technical reference derives from the Lucide Icons standard, adapted to the SDARM parameters: a stroke-width of 1.5px at 20×20px, corners with stroke-linecap: round and stroke-linejoin: round. This rule applies to icons in graphic pieces and materials; on the website and app screens, icons follow the library default — 24×24px with a 2px stroke.
Icons vs. emoji
Emojis never replace the system icons: in posts, banners, documents and signage, the official SVG icons do the talking. On social media, a caption may carry at most one emoji per post, and only when it adds context (Chapter 5). Never in print, documents, certificates or signage.